William Dozier

William Dozier was an American TV and movie producer who made it to the top of the TV heap briefly in the mid1960s with his show Batman 1966 Born on February 13 1908 in Omaha Nebraska Dozier was also known for his wives After divorcing his first wife he was married to Oscarwinner Joan Fontaine from 1946 to 1951 and to movie star Ann Rutherford from 1953 to his death on April 23 1991 In 1948 he and Fontaine launched Rampart Productions which produced Max Ophüls Letter from an Unknown Woman 1948 starring his wife and You Gotta Stay Happy 1948 which starred Fontaine and James Stewart He served as executive producer on both pictures Turning to TV as the new decade of the Fifties dawned Dozier produced the series Danger 1950 which ran for five years from 195055 In the Fifties and Sixties he continued his career as a TV producer bringing to the tube the shortlived TV series Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers 1953 and The Loner 1965 In 1966 he achieved the height of TV success with Batman which ran for three seasons and was a cultural sensation The TV show spun off a Batman The Movie 1966 feature film That same year he also launched a modest success and The Tammy Grimes Show 1966 a notorious flop that shot five episodes and was canceled after four Dozier retired as a producer after the 1969 movie The Big Bounce 1969 flopped though he enjoyed a modest second career as an actor in the Seventies and early Eighties